Aid in Action

Food for Peace Helps Burundi Move Forward

Food for Work Projects are rebuilding roads, schools and shelters.

 | Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Following the elections in 2005, Burundi is finally moving forward after 13 years of conflict. During this transition, humanitarian assistance has been filling the gap in social services, thus allowing space for the development of the peace process. The civil war completely disrupted the economic and agricultural foundations, making the population extremely vulnerable to the slightest shock.

Food For Peace has been providing assistance to 680,000 war-affected and other vulnerable groups through the World Food Program (WFP), distributing over 85,000 tons of food to internally displaced individuals, refugees and returnees. One of the WFPs main activities was providing a three-month resettlement ration to returning refugees from Tanzania. In addition they provided food to nutritional feeding centers that served nearly 1,200 severely malnourished and 12,000 moderately malnourished children.

Another component of FFP, helping to rebuild infrastructure, is the Food for Work (FFW) scheme. FFW projects are either community-based or public works initiatives, aimed at providing the war affected communities with a safety net and creating assets for self-reliance and reconstruction of their environment. Community-based projects include swamp rehabilitation, erosion control, the planting of tree nurseries, building fishponds, establishing bee keeping facilities, constructing shelters and the establishment of disease-resistant cassava plant sources. Labor intensive public works programs include road and bridge construction and maintenance, the construction of grain storage facilities, and the rehabilitation of schools and sanitation infrastructures.

Though Burundians are working hard to rebuild their communities, the ability to move away from emergency food aid has remained limited. Persistent memories of war mean that the population continues to cultivate quick-growing crops, harvesting too early and selling immediately for cash due to fears of displacement and to prevent looting. FFP will continue to provide assistance until Burundians are able to rely on a constant local supply of food.